Lots of singing on tap in School of Music concerts

The University Chorale kicks it off with an exploration of both the nature of love and love of nature in a concert on Monday, June 1. The performance features I Died for Beauty, an Emily Dickinson poem set to music by American composer Jerry Ulrich and dedicated to University Chorale, as well as Joan Szymko’s Carpe Diem and works by UW composer Giselle Wyers and UW graduate student Laurie Betts Hughes.

On Tuesday, June 2, Geoffrey Boers conducts the Chamber Singers in a program of works by Northwest composers, including premier performances of The Dark Around Us Come, I Go Among the Trees and Sit and The Waking, by UW faculty composer Giselle Wyers; and Afternoon on a Hill and Across the Fields by UW choral conducting student Eric Barnum. Also on the program are Curse Upon Iron by Veljo Tormis and Hymn to St Cecelia by Benjamin Britten.

On Thursday, June 4, you can enjoy the combined talents of the University Singers, the Women’s Choir, and the UW Men’s Glee Club singing music ranging from classical to pop to gospel and more. Also on the program is the Vancouver Orpheus Male Voice Choir.

The Women’s Choir presents songs that focus on stages of relationships. Selections include I Am Sad and Lonely, Aglepta, No Thank You, John, Chindia and Lake Isle of Innisfree. The Men’s Glee Club performs Biebl’s well-known setting of Ave Maria as well as pop and Gospel favorites. University Singers presents Be Our Guest from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Other selections include Dreams of Thee by UW composer Eric Barnum as well as some lighter springtime fare.

All three concerts are at 7:30 p.m. in Meany Theater. Tickets are $10 for each; they are available at the door.

Of course, if you’re more interested in the beat than the voice, you can choose the percussion concert on Monday, June 1. The UW Percussion Ensemble, directed by Tom Collier, performs a new work for percussion, Pieces of Mind, by Adam Page, a UW junior percussion major. Also on the program: A new work by doctoral percussion student Chia-Hao Hsieh entitled Energy for Percussion Trio, and jazz fusion pieces by Michael Gibbs and Ron Delp, scored for ensemble by legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton. In addition, the UW Steel Drum Ensemble will be featured on the program performing a variety of arrangements.

The percussion concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Meany Studio Theater. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.